. Bannertail; the story of a gray squirrel . elpless, bound in his coil,[ 236] The Story of a Graysquirrel and the Snakes dread jaws with the rowsof pointed teeth clamped on the mothersneck, and another fold of that long, hell-ish length was hitched around her she could and struggle, but biteshe could not, for the coil held her as ina vise. For a moment only could shemake a sound, the long, long, screamingQueeee, the Squirrel call for help; andBannertail, lazily dozing on his sunningperch, sprang up and set his ears was not repeated, but the sound ofstruggle was there,
. Bannertail; the story of a gray squirrel . elpless, bound in his coil,[ 236] The Story of a Graysquirrel and the Snakes dread jaws with the rowsof pointed teeth clamped on the mothersneck, and another fold of that long, hell-ish length was hitched around her she could and struggle, but biteshe could not, for the coil held her as ina vise. For a moment only could shemake a sound, the long, long, screamingQueeee, the Squirrel call for help; andBannertail, lazily dozing on his sunningperch, sprang up and set his ears was not repeated, but the sound ofstruggle was there, and the keen-eyedfather Squirrel saw the flash of a silver i\tail, the signal of his kind. And from ^that perch high in the air he leaped in one *^^long, parachuting leap; he landed on the Jjy ^^ \ground, and in three mighty bounds he //4^j$#^ ^*fe. v was at the place. The horror of the _^ n^ ^ Snake was on him. It set his coat a- X ^\^^ O^ bristling; but it did not hold him back. ^ /^ It only added desperation to his onset. / J [ 237 ] . /. Bannertail Clutching that devilish scaly neck withboth his arms, he drove in his chisel teethand ground them in, down to the verybone, as Silvergray could not have worked and tugged and stabbed again,and the Snake, sensing a new and strongerfoe, relaxed on Silvergray, snapped withhis hateful jaws, seized Bannertailsstrong shoulder just where he best couldstand it—where the skin is thick andstrong the Blacksnake drove in andgripped. And Bannertail, as quick, quithis first hold on the coil that was stran-gling Nyek-nyek, and by good luck, ormaybe by better wisdom than his own,drove, fighting fierce, into the demonsthroat, the weak spot in that scaly sank the Squirrels teeth, and pangsof mortal agony went thrilling throughthe reptiles length. But he was strong,and a desperate fighter, too. The coilsunloosed on the senseless form of Nyek-[ 238]
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1922
